Submissions

Everything you’ll need to know and understand when submitting to Indie Beginning:

If you are an Indie author, musician, and/or artist looking for a new way to find an audience we would love to receive your submission. Your published work and music may be featured in an upcoming episode of the Indie Beginning Podcast or on the site as a contributing artist. Your art may be featured throughout the site and with promotional materials. All artist’s work will be credited to said artist. For more information on who we are and what our goals are please click here.

*Note: The information below may change without warning, please check back if you submit to ACNBooks or Indie Beginning again.

Now for the formal stuff:

Indie Beginning does not guarantee in any way that your submission will be featured on the website (ACNBooks.com) or the podcast (Indie Beginning). We are but a few and cannot possibly perform every story for the podcast. Sadly, we must use our allotted time wisely forcing us to pick.

ACNBooks and its affiliates/productions do not and shall not discriminate on the basis of submitted genre, writing style, title, music, lyrics, or art in all forms. We review each and every submission with the greatest of attention before selecting pieces.

• The subject of the email should be titled: Indie Beginning Submission-Book (or-Music or –Art…you get the drift, whatever you are submitting we would like to see it in the subject line).
• You should send your story as an attachment – in TEXT or Microsoft Word format – or, if your email system does not allow attachments, copy and paste it into the e-mail body.
• Remember to include the work’s title, book blurb, link to where we can buy a copy, the author’s name and contact e-mail in the submission. These are important and will allow us to promote your material and the audience to find you.
• Attachments should only be in Microsoft Word, Rich Text or Text format, or MP3 (for musicians). Artists- Please send us a link to where your art can be found; are you part of an artist community such as DeviantArt? Do not send compressed files (M.K.F. doesn’t speak technology any more than her book characters-do her a favor and no ZIPed files).o At some point we promise to make the process easier by way of Google Docs or some other user friendly form.
• Do not send any other attachments with the story. If we need more we will ask.
• Do not send us a large number of stories at the same time. If you have several stories available, we suggest you send only one, but mention briefly that you have more you would like to offer up to Indie Beginnings.

2. Snail Mail (Yes, this is still a thing!)

ACNBooks, P.O. Box 114, Central Square, NY 13036

• Please include, along with your work, a cover letter including all the information asked for in the E-mail section of this page.
• We accept work in the form of a manuscript, double spaced and any legible font. We also accept the paperback and hardcover versions of your work. NOTE: we will not return the work. Manuscripts will be filed for a yet undetermined period of time and books will be added to the ACNBooks’ library.
*We also love cards, baby photos, hand drawn pictures, pre-folded origami, cash… you get the idea.

3. Please include a brief biography in the body of the e-mail.

• Make it brief, make it fun! Tell us things you haven’t mentioned in an interview before, things beyond your ‘about the author’, little tidbits we can’t find in your normal press release.
** Something to draw a reader to YOU**

4. You should receive an e-mail confirming receipt of the submission.

If you do not receive this email within two weeks, you should assume the story has not reached us.
Please note that we receive a very large number of submissions and failure to adhere to these submission guidelines will severely decrease the chances of your submission being viewed.

5. Copyright

• By submitting a story to us you agree to our (ACNBooks and Indie Beginnings) Privacy Policy, Terms of Use and Disclosures page and also the information found on this page.
o Please go back and read through them before submitting.
• By submitting a work to ACNBooks and Indie Beginning you guarantee that you are the owner of the copyright to that piece.
o We do not ask for any transfer of this copyright – by submitting a story to us you agree to grant Indie Beginning and ACNBooks a non-exclusive license to use your piece (including artwork) in the Indie Beginning Podcast, on ACNBooks.com, and in any advertisements not limited to all forms of social media. Questions about what this may include can be sent to bfranke.acnbooks@gmail.com with the subject License Inquiry.

Is there a word limit on submissions?

-Indie Beginning is just that-in the beginning-send us your first chapter or first 6,500 words.

How is my copyright protected when publishing on the web?

-As with all public arenas, your work is at risk from copyright infringement. Please take steps to ensure that you can be identified as holder of the copyright on your work. The following sites contain useful information on copyright protection in various parts of the world:

– The U.S. Copyright Office – Copyright Information (includes ‘Copyright Basics’)
– Nolo – Copyright Registration and Enforcement. How to get maximum protection from the federal copyright laws.
– The U.K. Patent Office – Copyright.
– UK Government – How do I get copyright protection in other countries?
Please note we cannot provide advice on copyright protection; if you are concerned about copyright, we suggest you contact a lawyer.

How can I get answers to other questions I have?

Ask! You can ask questions in your submission, one of us here at ACNBooks will get back to you with an answer or a picture of fat cats trying to get into tiny boxes!